Ag News: Tariff Conditions for NAFTA

**President Trump’s plan to slap steep tariffs on steel and aluminum imports isn’t just a way to prop up domestic producers, it’s also leverage he’s planning to use to get Canada and Mexico to agree to U.S. demands in the ongoing negotiations to rewrite NAFTA.

Agri-Pulse reports Trump signed the order Thursday to levy a 25 percent tariff on steel imports and a 10 percent on aluminum imports, but promised they’d not apply to Canada or Mexico if a new NAFTA was agreed to.

**The latest U.S. Drought Monitor remains relatively unchanged in areas like Kansas and Texas that are currently experiencing D3 or extreme drought, or parts of northwestern Oklahoma in the D4 or exceptional drought stage.

Agweb.com reports roughly half of the country is experiencing some level of drought or dryness.

As the winter wheat crop starts to break dormancy, fields are dry, forcing some farmers to make difficult decisions on what to do with the crop. Cattle are moving off pastures early, and some hay is being used to supplement diets.